


The Last Stand Of The Astronomy Tower

by peculiarmars



Series: When You Break [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Autistic Draco Malfoy, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-18 15:06:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11293164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peculiarmars/pseuds/peculiarmars
Summary: "What is going on, Harry?" The sudden question took Harry by surprise."What do you mean?" Harry asked innocently, his heart thumping loudly in his chest."You've been quieter later, Harry. Since you came back from Dumbledore a few days ago. Is - are you okay?"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is two chapters bc this is going to be longer than my usual updates, thus taking more time to update also - im planning to put much more of the focus on draco in the next chapter

"'Mione," Ron said quietly over breakfast, "do you think somethings up with Harry? He looks a bit off."

 

Hermione looked up from the essay she was proofreading and glanced at her other best friend. Ron was right, Harry did look ill. He was paler than normal, and didn't seem to be eating much. Hermione nodded to Ron.

 

"Hey, Harry," Ron elbowed him lightly.

 

"Hm?" Harry said, looking up from his uneaten breakfast.

 

"Are you alright? You seem down."

 

Harry nodded distantly. "I'm fine, Ron. Listen, I left my Transfiguration essay in the common room. I'll meet you at class."

 

Ron and Hermione stared after him, then shared a look of confusion.

 

"I agree. Something's definitly wrong." Hermione said.

 

"It must be to do with Dumbledore, he was really quiet when he came to bed a few nights ago, as well."

 

"And the memory. Didn't Harry speak with Malfoy last night?"

 

"Yeah, I think so. Do you think he would've told Malfoy?"

 

"Maybe they're having issues?" Hermione suggested. If she was completely honest, she didn't know what to make of Harry's relationship with Malfoy. She supported him, obviously. He was her best friend and she loved him to bits - but it was slightly odd how close they had gotten in such a short amount of time. Harry had started giving Malfoy defence lessons in May, and it was now nearing the middle of July.

 

Ron shrugged, thoughtful. "Eh, maybe. Maybe we should just ask one of them?"

 

Hermione scanned over the Slytherin table, searching for familiar white-blond hair. She didn't find it. "Malfoy isn't there. He might still be in the Slytherin common room. Pansy told me it sometimes takes him hours to get ready for school."

 

"Makes sense. I guess he's really got to soak in the cologne, you know." Hermione snorted in an unlady like manner.

 

"C'mon, lets go down to the common room. If we time it right we'll be at McGonagall's on time."

 

* * *

 

 

Harry's head hurt. Dumbledore had made him promise to keep what he had seen in the memory a secret, but it was already costing him, and it had only been a few days. He needed to tell someone, but couldn't. He was sure Dumbledore would know.

 

He knew that Ron and Hermione knew something was wrong - both were far from stupid. Draco likely suspected something too.

 

In all honesty, he was so _tired_. Tired of keeping secrets, of trying to fight a war he was too young to even hope to win. He just wanted it to be over.

 

And now he had to worry about Horcruxes. Dark magic, that's what Slughorn said in the memory. And Voldemort - no, Tom Riddle, - had split his soul into seven pieces. Dumbledore had told him after that he believed that the Riddle diary that he had destroyed in his second year had also been one, but that still left six horcruxes.

 

He sighed loudly to himself in the empty corridor. It was going to be a long day.

 

* * *

 

 

Hermione shifted from foot to foot outside the Slytherin common room.

 

"Do we just knock?" Ron asked from her left.

 

"I guess." She shrugged, and rapped on the door three times.

 

A third year answered it, one Hermione vaguely recognised as Astoria Greengrass. Astoria tossed her blonde hair away from her face.

 

"What can I do for you two?"

 

Ron cleared his throat. "We're looking for, uh, Draco Malfoy."

 

"Or Pansy Parkinson." Hermione added. Astoria arched an eyebrow.

 

"Malfoy's still getting ready. Wait a second, I'll get Parkinson." Astoria slammed the door in their faces, leaving them blinking stupidly at the wood. A second later it was opened by Pansy Parkinson, with Theodore Nott hovering behind her.

 

"Ah, Granger, Weasel. What do I owe the absolute pleasure?" She said silkily, in a tone of voice suggesting it was anything but.

 

"We need to talk to Malfoy." Hermione said. Pansy looked her up and down, before staring at her in a stony silence.

 

"Uh, it is kind of urgent." said Ron.

 

"Let me guess, Potter's acting strange and you want to know if Draco has anything to do with it?" Ron gaped at her.

 

"How do you know these things?" He gasped. Pansy rolled her eyes.

 

"I'm a girl, it's my job to know these things." She opened the door wider, inviting them inside. "You two may as well come in. I have a feeling you'd just wait outside like lost puppies if I didn't let you in."

 

Ron and Hermione once again found themselves in the spacious Slytherin common room.

 

"Theo, go see what Draco's doing. Ask him how long he'll be."

 

"Yes, ma'am." Theo muttered sarcastically, but did as she asked anyway.

 

Theo vanished up a dark staircase and came back after a few minutes, a perfectly pristine Draco Malfoy in tow. Malfoy looked them up and down.

 

"What?" He said.

 

"Malfoy, can we talk?" said Ron. Some other Slytherins were looking their way, wanting to know why Malfoy was talking to Ron Weasley and not insulting his family's wealth.

 

"Fine." Malfoy crossed his arms over his chest, staring at them both. "Well, don't just stand there. Talk."

 

Ron coughed. "In private, Malfoy."

 

* * *

 

 

"What is this even about?" Malfoy grumbled. All three were hidden in the mouth of a secret passage way, one that Ron and Hermione only knew about because of Harry's Marauders Map. No one would see the entrance unless they knew it was there.

 

"Listen, Malfoy, has Harry acted strange recently? Like, in the past few days?" Hermione got straight down to the point.

 

As Malfoy spoke Hermione noticed things she hadn't before; like the way Malfoy didn't actually look at her directly in the eye, instead he stared at her forehead. And the way he didn't change his tone of voice as he spoke, keeping to one tone no matter what he said.

 

"Harry has been quieter these past few days. He's distracted by something, but says it's nothing whenever I ask him about it. Does it have something to do with Slughorn's memory?"

 

"Harry told you _that?_ " Ron asked incredulously. He had thought that Harry would of kept it top secret, even if he and Malfoy seemed, close.

 

"Yes, but he didn't tell me what the memory was. I assume that that is what has been bothering him."

 

Hermione chewed her lip, deep in thought. "So you know no more than we do?" Malfoy shrugged.

 

"I seems that I don't"

 

"Okay-"

 

Malfoy turned to leave.

 

"-wait, Malfoy! If Harry does tell you something, please tell us! We're worried about him."

 

"I'll tell Pansy, and she can tell you. It would look odd if people saw us talking." And then he disappeared down a corridor.

 

"Well," Ron said. "that went surprisingly well."

 

* * *

 

 

"What is going on, Harry?" The sudden question took Harry by surprise. He and Draco were alone on the Astronomy Tower, sharing a bottle of Draco's father's wine (which Harry had eventually gotten used to, even if it did still burn going down).

 

"What do you mean?" Harry asked innocently, his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

 

"You've been quieter later, Harry. Since you came back from Dumbledore a few days ago. Is - are you okay?"

 

Harry fixed a fake smile on his face.

 

"I'm fine, I'm just tired."

 

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

 

"Harry, I know there's something wrong. I'm not the only one who has noticed. You don't have to pretend."

 

_He's not the - of course Ron and Hermione noticed. How could they not?_

 

"I'm not pretending, I really am tired. I've just got a lot of things on my mind, you know?"

 

Draco ran his hands over his robes, pinching the material between his fingertips. He did know. He knew what it was like to be set an impossible task with minimal help, knew what it was like to feel so hopeless. He knew what it was like to simply want to give up because it was so much easier than failing.

 

"I do know, Harry. It isn't fair, what the world expects of you."

 

Harry leaned into Draco's shoulder.

 

"I know. They all expect me to be powerful and to know how to save them, but honestly? I have no idea what I'm doing. And if I fail, then we're all dead."

 

Draco wrapped his arm around his shoulders, feeling Harry tremble against him. Draco couldn't hear, but he knew Harry was crying quietly.

 

It wasn't fair, and it never had been. Wheareas Draco, a Slytherin with the Malfoy name, had been painted as a villian, a Death Eater in the making; Harry had been painted as a hero, the savior, The Boy Who Lived. Their lives had been made for them when they were only children.

 

But where Draco had defied his role, they both knew that Harry couldn't. Or wouldn't. He might hate being painted as a hero, but he would be lying if he said he didn't want to save people.

 

* * *

 

 

Harry's avoidance of any subject concerning Dumbledore or his wellbeing continued for the next two weeks.

 

"Draco tells me that Harry hasn't told him anything." Pansy informed Hermione one night on their rounds.

 

"Aren't you going to ask?" Hermione sighed, walking past the entrance to the Astronomy tower staircase. If she and Ron were tired of seeing Harry brooding, she didn't even want to imagine what Harry must be feeling.

 

"What makes you think I don't already know?"

 

Hermione resisted the urge to glare at the Slytherin. Parkinson most likely did know what was going on. Parkinson was the Queen of what the rest of the school merely called gossip, however Hermione knew it was more than that. Parkinson lied and manipulated people to her own will. Hermione knew it was wrong, and was rightfully disgusted by it at times, but at the same time, a small part of Hermione admired Parkinson. She was smart, like her. Their plan for Rita Skeeter had been mostly her idea, admittedly.

 

Strategically, with the war coming, Parkinson would be a good person to have on her side. So would the rest of the Slytherins. Neither girl had spoken about the war, but Hermione knew Parkinson at least had an inkling of what was coming.

 

* * *

 

 

Being summoned randomly to Dumbledore would be unusual for any Hogwarts student, except if you were Harry Potter. Harry hurried to Dumbledore's office, blurting out the password before almost running up the steps.

 

"Sir?" He panted. "What's going on?"

 

"Harry, I may have a location of a horcrux."

 

"Where?"

 

"A cave, a very remote place. I can apparate us there." Dumbledore took Harry's arm.

 

"I thought people couldn't apparate on Hogwarts grounds, sir?"

 

Dumbledore winked. "They can't."

 

Harry felt the sickening pull of Apparation, and knew that they weren't in Hogwarts anymore.

 


	2. Chapter 2

When the first scream sounded, Draco had been in the common room, coaching Vince through their latest Transfiguration essay. Both boys looked up at the sound.

 

"What in Salazar's name was that?" Theo shouted as the screams kept coming. Draco drew his wand, noting that Vince had done the same. Looking around the common room, he noted that they weren't the only ones.

 

They, along with the rest of the Slytherins, watched as the door burst open and a first year fell inside the common room.

 

"Death Eaters!" The first year shrieked, "In the castle! They're everywhere!"

 

Draco felt his blood go cold, and he was fairly sure his heart had stopped beating for a second.

 

"How?!" Theo yelled. "How can they get to Hogwarts!"

 

"I don't know! They came through a disappearing room!" The first year yelled back.

 

Draco was genuinely worried that he was going to faint, right there in the middle of the common room. It couldn't be possible, what the first year was saying. It was clear to him that the disappearing room was the Room of Requirement. But the cabinet hadn't been finished, he hadn't even tested it. Or, had he finished it? And left it there, not realising?

 

_Were people going to die because of him tonight?_

 

He was snapped from his thoughts by a seventh year Prefect, Adrian Pucey, barking out orders like a drill sergeant.

 

"First years, second years and thirds, stay inside the common room. Fourth years and fifth years, make sure they stay. Give me a list of all the younger students who aren't here!"

 

Multiple younger students started shouting out names.

 

"Graham Pritchard!"

 

"Andrew Jones! And Abigail Jones!"

 

"Astoria Greengrass!"

 

"Missy Fox!"

 

"Right!" Adrian shouted over the younger years. "Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, Nott! Come on, we're going to find them!"

 

"I'm coming too!" Daphne Greengrass ran over to them.

 

"Daphne, are you sure that's-"

 

"My sister is out there!" She marched over to the door, hand frozen above it. "Come on!" Her shout got Draco moving. He, along with the boys, steeled themselves as Daphne flung the common room door.

 

It was like something out of a horror story. A dark, dark fairy tale. A nightmare that you tell the first years to scare the before bed.

 

Hogwarts castle, a place of peace and learning, was like nothing Draco had ever seen. There were few children down this end of the castle, two Ravenclaws and a Slytherin. Crabbe and Goyle grabbed the Ravenclaws and shoved them into the Slytherin common room, ignoring their screaming protests. Screw houses.

 

"Split up!" Adrian ordered. "Crabbe and Theo, go that way, Blaise and Goyle, that way. Greengrass-"

 

"I'm going to the library, that's where Astoria was!" And then Daphne took off running down a corridor.

 

"Shouldn't someone go after her?" Theo asked.

 

"She can handle herself. Malfoy, with me!" Adrian grabbed Draco's robe and almost dragged him down another corridor, leaving the others behind.

 

"Where are we going?!" Draco shouted over the screams as they got louder. As they got closer to the source Draco could hear curses mixed in.

 

"Finding the younger years! Even if they ain't Slytherin, get them to our common room. If it's Death Eaters then they might not target our common room."

 

"They'll kill anyone who defies them, Pucey! Slytherin or not!"

 

Pucey either ignored him or didn't hear him over the noise.

 

* * *

 

 

"How did they get in?!" Hermione shrieked as another curse was thrown her way.

 

"I don't bloody know!" Pansy screamed back.

 

They had been doing their rounds near the Great Hall when they had heard several loud bangs and than an abundance of screaming. They had been running to the Great Hall when they had been caught up in a wave of students going the other way, and had been swept into the crowd.

 

"What are we supposed to do?!"

 

Prefects were supposed to deal with minor incidents, like a student out of bed after curfew. Not Death Eaters breaking into the school.

 

Hermione deflected another curse, and watched as the faceless Death Eater ran past them, heading in the opposite direction. "Where are they going?"

 

Pansy ducked as another curse was thrown her way, dragging Hermione down next to her behind a statue.

 

"Who knows?" She whispered. Hermione made to say something in reply, but paused when she heard a cackle of feminine laughter down the other end of the corridor. She froze, heart pounding.

 

It had sounded like...

 

Just like Bellatrix Lestrange.

 

"Pansy," She whispered desparately, "don't move. Or make a sound." She told the other girl.

 

Pansy didn't know for sure who had cackled, but judging by the way Granger had gone deathly pale and as still as the statue they were hidden behind, she knew that her silence made a difference between life and death.

 

Hermione held her breath as Bellatrix Lestrange walked leisurely past their hiding place. The witch looked just as she remembered; crooked teeth, wild frizzy hair and dark eyes filled with madness.

 

Bellatrix took one step past their hiding place, and then another. Hermione was relieved until she suddenly stopped and spun around, staring down the other end of the corridor.

 

"You smell that?" A gruff voice said. It belonged to a man, but Hermione couldn't identify them. Whoever it was was just out of her line of sight.

 

Bellatrix skipped forward. "Oh yes!" She said gleefully. "I smell a traitor." Bellatrix skipped out of Hermione's eyesight, taking her company with her.

 

It was a full two minutes before either of them dared to move. Pansy spoke first.

 

"Was that Lestrange?" She whispered. Hermione nodded, and Pansy swore under her breath.

 

"What do we do?" She hissed. The corridor was silent apart from their uneasy breaths. Hermione pondered for a minute, not sure what on earth they were suppposed to do.

 

"Get to safety." She decided. But if Death Eaters were in the castle, then where was safe?

 

Pansy answered her unspoken question as if she had been reading Hermione's thoughts.

 

"The common rooms. They won't have the passwords unless... Salazar's saggy tits!" Pansy exclaimed.

 

"What?"

 

"The Slytherin common room. If the wrong person told their parent the password, then they're not safe!"

 

"So we go down there, and what? Defend them?"

 

"You have skills from that army thing Potter did last year. Slytherin's don't have much training in defence. We get training in offence, not defence." Pansy said darkly. Hermione didn't have time to dwell on the meaning behind her words, as Pansy grabbed her wrist and was pulling her in the direction of the dungeons. Hermione didn't bother protesting; she knew that Parkinson always got her own way. Besides, the other houses would have students who knew how to defend, where Slytherin wouldn't.

 

Hermione wondered, for the first time, if they had been wrong to exclude Slytherins.

 

She wasn't able to wonder for long, as Parkinson abruptyly stopped, causing Hermione to bash into her.

 

"Adrian!" Pansy exclaimed, staring at a dark haired Slytherin boy. The boy - Adrian - was propped by against the wall, with his eyes closed. There was a bloody cut on his forehead so Hermione guessed he was unconscious.

 

Pansy suddenly drew her hand back and slapped Adrian across the face. Hermione gasped, wanting to lecture the Slytherin on the correct treatment of injured people, but she decided not to when Adrian opened his eyes blearily. He blinked twice before his eyes settled on them.

 

"Parkinson," He said hoarsley. Pansy gripped his shoulders.

 

"We've got to get you to the common room, Adrian," She said as she pulled him up. He swayed on his feet until Hermione rushed forward to help steady him.

 

"Mal-" He coughed. Pansy and Hermione looked at him expectantly.

 

"Malfoy."

 

"Where?" Pansy was gripped his shoulders tight enough to bruise.

 

"They took him. Got me down and dragged him away." Pansy paled. Neither girl needed to ask who 'They' were.

 

"Where?" She repeated. Adrian shrugged.

 

"I don't know, I didn't see. Down that corridor I think." He pointed to the passage to his left.

 

"Do you need help walking?" Hermione asked. Adrian looked at her in surprise, as if only just noticing she was there.

 

"No," He said. Pansy rolled her eyes.

 

"That means you do. Granger and I will walk you to the common room." Pansy made eye contact with Hermione over Adrian's head, and both girls knew they would not be staying in the safety of the common room tonight.

 

* * *

 

 

"Proffesor?" Harry questioned urgently. Something was wrong, deeply. He could feel it. Hogwarts didn't feel right, and hadn't since they had returned. They were on the Astronomy Tower, the note and locket tucked firmly into Harry's robe pocket.

 

"I apologise, Harry." Dumbledore said sincerely. Confused, Harry turned towards him as Dumbledore struck out with his wand.

 

Without giving Harry time to move, Dumbledore petrified him. Harry toppled to the floor with a thud, completely paralysed save for the frantic blinking of his eyes. Dumbledore spread his invisibility cloak over him before vanishing up the steps.

 

Harry head the groan of the old wooden door open, along with the scuffle footsteps and a quiet sob. Harry stared up at the wood above him, immediatly knowing who was above him.

 

But why? And who was he with? And what was even going on?

 

Harry heard a high pitched cackle and felt him blood freeze in his veins. No. It couldn't be. How was she in the-

 

* * *

 

 

"Expelliarmus!" Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked. Dumbledore's wand went flying from his hand into hers.

 

Draco watched numbly, the only sound he made was the odd muffled sob. He knew what Bellatrix expected of him, knew what Greyback and the rest of the Death Eaters that had fought their way to the Astronomy Tower expected of him. And he was filled with the terrifying knowledge that he couldn't do it.

 

He had thought he was safe. Dumbledore had promised his Mother was safe from harm, but somehow the Death Eaters had found a way in through the vanishing cabinet.

 

"Go on, Draco!" Bellatrix hissed as she roughly shoved him forwards. Draco stumbled, almost falling over his own feet.

 

"Good evening, Draco." Dumbledore said softly. Draco wanted to scream at the mans calm compusture. How could he be so level-headed about this?

 

Draco's hand was shaking so hard he almost dropped his wand.

 

"I-I-" He stuttered. He heard Greyback snort from behind him.

 

"Typical, he hasn't got the nerve. Just like his father." Greyback sneered. Draco trembled in response. His breathing was ragged, as if a hand was clamped around his throat, cutting off his air supply.

 

Bellatrix's breath was hot on his neck when she spoke. "Well, then what's the point of you?" Draco's eyes widened as he felt her wand press into his back.

 

She wasn't going to - surely she wouldn't outright kill him?

 

"Cru-"

 

"No," The deep, baritone voice of Professor Snape interrupted Bellatrix's casting. Draco took a breath, trying to still his trembling limbs. Draco watched as his godfather raised his wand.

 

"Severus...Please," Dumbledore implored. Snape stepped forward.

 

"Avada Kedavra!" Severus yelled. Draco watched in a stupor as a bolt of green light shot through Headmaster Dumbledore. He watched as Dumbledore toppled over the edge of the tower, continuing to fall.

 

"What - he - I-" He was so shocked that he couldn't form a coherent sentence.

 

"Silence!" Proffesor Snape snarled, harshly grabbing Draco and pushing him out of the Astronomy Tower. Draco stumbled down the steps, almost tripping several times.

 

He needed to get away, somehow. He wanted to simply run, but the logical side of him knew he would be dead before he could take more than a few steps.

 

Snape's hand was gripping his arm hard enough to bruise. Draco tried to tug his arm from Snape's grasp, but the Potions Professor's grip tightened instead.

 

Draco was trapped, in every sense of the word. Bellatrix was cackling at his heels, casting spells that tore the Great Hall apart. Greyback was next to her, licking the blood off of his fingers and Draco could feel the wolf leering at him. He didn't know how many others were in the castle, but he would bet that the Lestrange brothers were here, at least. They wouldn't want to miss this.

 

Draco was so wrapped up in his own fear that he hadn't realised that they had left the castle and were on the grounds. He could hear shouts from behind him, and closed his eyes tightly, knowing that Dumbledore had been found.

 

"Snape!" A familiar voice yelled. Draco turned as best as he could and caught sight of Harry hurtling towards them, his wand drawn.

 

"Harry!" He shrieked, squirming in Snape's grasp. He kicked Snape in the shins and Snape loosened his grip. It was the opening Draco needed, as he twisted from Snape's grasp. Unfortunately, he only took three steps before he dropped to the floor, suddenly feeling as his bones were snapping all at once. It felt like his blood was burning him. He twisted in the grass, a scream tearing his lungs. When he thought that the curse would actually kill him, it stopped.

 

_"Septumseptra!"_ Harry yelled, and Draco heard Bellatrix laugh.

 

"Oh, poor baby Potter! Casting curses he doesn't even know about! _Crucio_!"

 

Harry deflected it, instead throwing a hex at Snape. Snape deflected it, a sneer on his face. Harry stepped over Draco's body, shielding him.

 

"Murderer!" He screamed at Snape, throwing another curse at him. Again, Snape deflected it, almost casual. Snape threw a leg locker hex at him, and Harry fell to his knees.

 

Kneeling next to Draco's still body, Harry watches in fury as the Death Eaters disappear through the Forbidden Forest, until they blend into the dark.

 

A small moan comes from beneath him, and Harry cups Draco's face in his hands.

 

"Draco, can you hear me?" He knows how disoriented you can feel after the cruciatus curse. Draco blinks owlishly at him. He opens his mouth, and all that comes out is a pained cry. He trembles with effort as he reaches out a hand to Harry's shoulder. Harry helps him sit up, and it isn't until Draco wipes a tear away that he realises he had been crying. Harry wraps his arms around Draco's shaking form, squeezing him like he did in the Room of Requirement.

 

"He's dead! I'm sorry, it -it was Severus! I-I couldn't do it and he-" Draco trips over his words. Harry buries his head in Draco's shoulder, pulling him close until Draco is practically sitting in his lap.

 

"I know. I was there," He mumbles into the heavy fabric of Draco's robes. He bites his lip to hold back a sob.

 

_Dumbledore is dead._

 

And the worse part was, Dumbledore must have known he was going to die.

 

Harry really does sob then, a cry escaping his throat. Tears run down his face, and he feels Draco shift in his lap, a hand running through his hair.

 

"W-we'll figure something out."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This is mostly going to be the last update on this series for a while, I plan to make this an au through deathly hallows, however I want to focus on Winter's Wizard, and a sequel to Make Me A Monster. I'm not abandoning this series because I like it too much to do that, but it's going on a short break.

**Author's Note:**

> also: im siriusly struggling to think of titles so if you guys could suggest some that would be helpful.


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